1;

function str = erase (str, match)

  # do wee need to convert to cellstring?
  mtocs = ischar (str) && rows (str) > 1;
  if (mtocs)
    str = cellstr (str);
  endif

  if (iscellstr (match))
    # recursive call
    if (numel (match) > 1)
      str = erase (str, match(1:end-1));
    else
      str = erase (str, match{1});
    endif
  else
    str = strrep (str, match, "", "overlaps", false);
  endif

  # convert cellstring to char matrix
  if (mtocs)
    str = char (str);
  endif

endfunction


# from https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?52647#comment5
assert (erase ('aba', 'aba'), char ([]));
assert (erase ('ababa', 'aba'), 'ba');
assert (erase ('abababa', 'aba'), 'b');
assert (erase ('ababababa', 'aba'), 'bba')
assert (erase ('ababababa', {'aba', 'bba'}), 'bba');
assert (erase (' ababababa ', {'aba', 'bba'}), ' bba ');
assert (erase (' ababa ', {'aba', 'baba'}), ' ba ');

str = ["the quick brown fox jumps"; "over the lazy dog"];
newStr = erase (str, "the ");
assert (newStr, ["quick brown fox jumps"; "over lazy dog"])